1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for extruding arcuate frozen confections and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for extruding reconstituted banana confections having a banana-like configuration and to reconstituted banana confections as made by the apparatus and method of the invention.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Frozen bananas dipped or otherwise coated with chocolate or other candy-like coatings, often with an additional layer of crushed nuts, have become popular confections. However, such frozen banana confections frequently are not of uniform quality due to a lack of uniform ripeness in the bananas used and due to the tendency of the bananas to turn black and thus be perceived by the consumer as unpalatable. Moreover, coated frozen banana confections are not amenable to automated processing.
It has been suggested in the prior art that simulated fruit confections may be made by extruding fruit purees mixed with additional ingredients. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,172 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,739 which teach making simulated berries and cherries in this way. However, the arcuate configuration of bananas cannot be readily replicated with existing extrusion apparatus. Although U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,100 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,260 teach the use of shaped extrusion nozzles for forming semi-circular or curled food products, it is difficult with such shaped nozzles to effect the arcuate shape and generally round cross section of bananas. It is also difficult with such apparatus to provide coloring material within the reconstituted banana to stimulate the banana's seeds
More promising are horizontal extruders of the type manufactured by Glacier Industries, Inc. which can extrude elongated frozen confection "logs" and which are amenable to the use of auxillary extrusion orifices within the extrusion chamber to effect variations in the color of the product cross section as is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,311. Such machines include an extrusion head assembly mounted on a movable tracking platform and having a horizontal extrusion nozzle. The extrusion nozzle is positioned above moving product plates of a conveyor and extrudes a semi-solid extrudate stream. The platform is moved so that the extrusion nozzle tracks the moving product plates moving from a starting point in the same direction as the plates, but at a slower speed, as the extrusion stream is deposited on a product plate. After a confection product of desired length is deposited on the product plate, a hot wire cutoff device slices the extrudate stream. The platform is then moved rapidly in the reverse direction to bring the extrusion nozzle back to the starting point in time to deposit the next confection product on the next moving product plate. While the extrusion nozzle orifice may be shaped and dimensioned so that the confection products have the generally round cross section and diameter of bananas, the confections will be straight, unlike the arcuate configuration of bananas.